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DRINKING LIBERALLY UPDATE (6/14/2024)

l3wis June 17, 2024 2Comments

In politics: Nationally (kind of): In 2023 the Legislature allocated $383 million for a new prison. In October,  the Department of Corrections designated Lincoln County as the site for the new prison and transferred land it owned to the South Dakota Department of Corrections for that purpose. The location is six miles northwest of Canton, SD and maybe 6 or 7 miles south of the growing Sioux Falls suburban town of Harrisburg. Despite their strong Republican leanings and support for the GOP’s  past “Law and Order” stance, landowners in the area are very upset. They contend our Republican Governor and the Republican dominated Legislature in Pierre will not listen to them and ignore local zoning regulations. Lincoln County Landowners filed suit seeking compliance. A hearing was held in January of 2024 but the Court hasn’t ruled yet. In the meantime the Department of Corrections has stated it is not considering a second site. 

I think this conundrum could be solved if the Department of Corrections decided to name the new prison the “President Donald J. Trump Memorial Prison”. We all know how much Trump adores placing his name on monolithic buildings and, as strong Trump supporters who invariably conform to whatever he desires, the mainly Republican residents in Lincoln County will most likely reconcile their opposition to the new prison and be honored to have a prison named after the “Donald” as a neighbor. 

This is such a simple solution to the current conundrum that I think we should start a petition to present to the Governor and others showing the Public’s support for it. Let’s discuss whether or not Drinking Liberally should lead the petition drive tonight. 

 In Politics: South Dakota. The Democratic Party (SDDP) will hold its Biennial State Convention in Oacoma this weekend. Besides constructing a Political Platform, the other essential items of business are choosing a candidate to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and selecting the National Committeeman and the National Committeewoman for the Party.  No one has announced their candidacy for the PUC as of this writing .  Deb Knecht (Brown County) and Dennis Olsen (Beadle County) currently hold the National Committeeman and woman positions and both have announced they will seek reelection. Deb Knecht is currently unopposed but I have heard that Tom Cool (Sioux Falls) will challenge Dennis Olsen. These positions require expensive travel to national Democratic meetings but despite that, it would be good to see some new blood. Deb has been in her position for a long time and (IMHO) Dennis shows more concern for Beadle County matters than state and national issues. It would be good to have at least one of these two positions held by someone from outside the James River Valley.

I hope the SDDP ends their “Happy Talk” and addresses the continuing decline in Democratic voter registration in South Dakota both relative to Republican voter registration and in terms of absolute numbers. Democratic voter registration currently stands at 143,903 or 23.8% of the electorate compared to Republican registration of 306,009 or 50.6%. Since our June Primary 10 days ago, the Republican plurality over Democrats increased by 938 voters. Beginning in May and looking back monthly, the Republican plurality over Democratic registration increased as follows:  (May) 1689, 1382,1148, 1503, 1226, (Jan) 502. Or, to look at the decline more broadly, since the current leadership recalled Jennifer Slaight Hansen, the Democratic voter registration deficit against Republicans statewide has increased by 11,034 voters, nearly total the vote for all candidates in many South Dakota Legislative Districts.  I keep waiting for the new SDDP leadership to begin to reverse the long term decline in Democratic Registration. 

So we waited several months for this?

l3wis June 13, 2024 9Comments

We were told that the new E-Bike ordinance would NOT go into effect until June 1st because the city needed time to put up new signage. Mainly at the trailheads and SPEED LIMIT signs. So when June 1st rolled around I asked where was the signage? A couple of days after my inquiry this goofy pavement PSA (that will melt in the heat) showed up a couple of places on the trail.

Government moves in the speed of snail.

Also, I love the top of the graphic compared to the bottom. It says SHARE, so wouldn’t you show what is ALLOWED in a big graphic and what is NOT ALLOWED in a small graphic? Seems scoldy.

I don’t think most people care.

I tried to take a pic of a dude tonight on the trail, but I was laughing so hard I couldn’t get out my phone. First off, he didn’t look old enough to drink, but whatevs, but this dude was riding an electric foot scooter on the trail balancing himself on a case of Corona bottles (like I said, doubt he was old enough to drink based on his beer choice and container choice, and safety precautions 🙂

CITY OF SIOUX FALLS EXECUTIVE ORDER 160

l3wis June 13, 2024 3Comments

Who says public sector jobs don’t pay well? Unless you belong to a union in SoDak, you won’t get compensation like this in the private sector.

Look who we give the biggest subsidy to

l3wis June 11, 2024 3Comments

During the city council working session today they discussed all the different non-profits and other services the city helps subsidize. As you can see, most is for kids, families, homeless, public parks, public art, etc., yet the biggest grifter at the trough is Forward Sioux Falls.

Speaking of subsidies, I was discussing over the weekend with some friends the new refrigerated ice rink, they seem to be confused about the gift and mostly the subsidy. I told them that it is funny we are spending close to $100 million in this area between private and public dollars, yet every night, Camp Levitt is open for business.

How about funding something that gives these folks a safe place to sleep for the night?

UPDATE II (add 202): CITY OF SIOUX FALLS EXECUTIVE ORDER 207 & Flowchart

l3wis June 10, 2024 6Comments

UPDATE II: I am adding this EO, because it goes with the line of power.

UPDATE: Mike Zitterich sent me this, thanks Mike!

Under Article 2, Section 2.03, you find the answer you are looking for:

The selection of interim successors in the executive order shall be at the mayor’s discretion from among department heads or city employees; however, the number and order of proposed interim successor designees shall not be effective without the advice and consent of the city council.

This is the line of people who would assume mayoral authority in case of an emergency. I think during the Huether Administration the Public Works director was number one. I also find it ironic that the person that is 2nd in line is the COS who has actually been running the city and signing multiple docs for the mayor. The Council Chair should really be 2nd in line (not sure if charter language would have to change to make that possible?)